The beginning of the 2008 season is months away and already, the Titans have been given some bulletin-board material.
Following a draft thats been universally panned by the majority of NFL pundits, the Titans continue to get the short end of the stick when it comes to the opinions of the national sports media.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Peter King, the Titans are ranked #20 in the first installment of his NFL power rankings for the 2008 season.
In addition to being less than optimistic about the Titans chances in 2008, King appears to be unimpressed by the Titans three-game winning streak that enabled them to qualify for the postseason in 2007.
In his mind, the Titans benefitted from a favorable schedule at the end of the year that allowed them to beat up on the weak sisters of the league; Kansas City and the N.Y. Jets; while winning at Indy against a squad that had already sealed its postseason fate.
Surprisingly, King places last years AFC South cellar dwellers, the Houston Texans (19th), just ahead of the Titans. Interestingly, King justifies this choice by pointing out Houstons strong year-end run, which consisted of victories over the underachieving Broncos and a Jacksonville team that had nothing to play for in the last game of the season.
I guess in Peter Kings mind, the Texans were more impressive than the Titans while beating a playoff teams scrubs in the final game of the season: Double standard, anyone?
It looks like 2008 will be a season where the Titans will have to prove everyone wrong. Heres hoping they are more than up to the task.